


A last goodbye

by strangerthingswasntthatgood



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Death, F/F, Stabbing, blood tw, content warning, death tw, stabbing tw, trigger warning, tw, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26466349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangerthingswasntthatgood/pseuds/strangerthingswasntthatgood
Summary: Andy and Quynh meet one last time before Andy dies.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Quynh | Noriko, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	A last goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry y'all

She looked good. Her hair had grown longer and her cheeks weren’t as hollow as they had been the day they were separated. There weren’t even any noticeable bags under her eyes and her throat didn’t look swollen at all. Andy didn’t know what to do.

They all stood right behind her. Nicky was closest, but Joe and Booker weren’t far, either, and Nile was only in the back because Quynh hadn’t met her before.

“Quynh”, Andy began, trying to find words in any language that she knew, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to say anything. She only knew that she wanted to touch Quynh, wanted to make sure she was really there and this wasn’t another one of the endless nightmares.

“Quynh”, Joe began, as if he understood that Andy wouldn’t be able to say anything. “Don’t do anything rash.”

Quynh moved to look at him, then. It was the first time she took her eyes off Andy since they had entered the room. Andy could almost see her struggle to figure out what to do. Even though it had been 500 years, Andy remembered Quynh as if it had been yesterday. Her quirks, her smile, how it sounded when she breathed, the way she moved…

“This is not for you”, Quynh said. “This is between me and Andromache.”

Andy wanted to tell Joe that it was alright, that she could handle herself, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Quynh and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to say more than a few words. A lump had formed in her throat and she was sure that it would burst if she spoke. And if it did burst, she was going to break down and cry and likely not stop until it killed her.

“We’re not leaving her”, Nicky replied. “We can’t.”

Quynh turned to him, too. She gave him such a dark look most people would likely have turned away, but not Nicky. He took a step closer to Andy, but she took a step closer to Quynh. Only the table in the kitchen separated them now and Andy was glad she could lean against it. Her heart beat so fast in her chest it physically hurt.

“Quynh”, Andy said again, as if she was actually going to say anything else this time, but she wasn’t. She felt like a broken record, condemned to repeat the name of the woman she loved so dearly. “Quynh....”

Quynh turned to her again. The gaze she had given Nicky was nothing compared to the one she gave Andy. It didn’t matter, though. Andy didn’t mind. The only thing that mattered was that Quynh was back and Andy wasn’t going to die without being able to say goodbye. They’d have at least another fifty years to work this out, and maybe even more.

“You promised me”, Quynh’s voice felt like a punch to Andy’s gut, and she had to grip the table tightly. “You promised me and you never came.”

Andy’s vision blurred. She could barely see Quynh for the tears, but she couldn’t let them spill. She hadn’t suffered. Quynh had.

“They should’ve taken me”, Andy whispered, not even sure if Quynh could hear her. “Don’t you think I’ve thought that, every single day since they took you? They should’ve taken me.”

Quynh took a step forward and Andy was suddenly pulled from the table. Nicky held an arm before her, as if to show Quynh that Andy wasn’t to be harmed. Andy laughed at the pure irony of it all.

“Let me talk to her, Nicky”, Andy said, struggling to get back to the table. “Please, let me talk to her.”

Reluctantly, Nicky let go of her. She walked back right to where she had been standing and dug her fingernails into her hands. She had to stay grounded. That was what mattered. She  _ had  _ to explain.

“We looked for you.  _ I _ looked for you”, Andy tried not to sound desperate. “As recently as last year, I looked for you.”

Andy hadn’t told the others. Of course, she hadn’t. It hadn’t been a break as much as it had been another hopeless search for Quynh. Another search for dead ends and hurt.

“You should have looked harder.”

Tears spilled from her eyes, then. She bit back a sob. A second later, she tasted metal in her mouth. Quynh must have seen the blood because she visibly paled.

“It’ll heal”, Andy mumbled, quickly drying it from her face. Nile said something, but Andy couldn’t make out what it was.

“I’m sorry," she said, finally. “I wish there was something else I could say. I wish there was something I could say that would make it all go away, but I can’t.”

Silence fell in the room. Andy leaned heavily against the table. Her head hurt and there was a never-ending ringing in her ears. She suddenly felt so very, very tired. She had lived for long enough, hadn’t she? All she wanted now was to rest.

She managed to pull out a chair and sit. Nicky was about to move closer again but was held back by Joe. Booker had his hand on the gun and Nile was ready to attack, if it came to that. But it all escaped Andy, as she hid her face in her hands.

The next thing happened so quickly, Andy didn’t even have time to react. Suddenly, there was pain. Andy could tell it was a knife before she had a look. Quynh had stabbed her almost exactly where Nile had only a few months prior. A gun went off, just as Nicky pulled Andy from the chair and nearly threw her on the ground. Nile was the one to meet her at the floor.

“Look at me”, she said, with her usual voice. She sounded calm, but focused. “Look at me, Andy.”

Andy didn’t. She looked up at Nicky. He was as white as a sheet and had crouched on her other side. She reached for him and he grabbed her hand almost immediately. His hand was bigger than hers and felt warm.

Nile pulled at her shirt. Andy sucked in a breath and pressed her eyes close. She tried to ignore the sounds from behind Nile, of Joe’s voice and Quynh’s furious cries. It was almost impossible.

“We have to call an ambulance”, Nile said and Andy opened her eyes. She tried to sit.

“Andy, stay still. It’ll be alright, just… look at me. Look at me.”

Andy struggled and tried to sit again, but Nile pushed her right back down on the floor. Nicky pressed his shirt to the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Let me see her”, Andy was going to suffocate and she wasn’t going to get to see Quynh. She was going to die and she wouldn’t get to tell Quynh how sorry she was. She was going to die and Quynh would never know how much she had missed her, how long she had searched, and how she had never gotten over her. Andy  _ had _ to tell her. “Let me see her. Let me see her. Please, let me see her.”

“Andy, stay still”, Nile said, leaning her entire body weight atop Nicky’s hands. “Look at me.”

Andy tried to get away from them both. Pain shot from her chest as she did, but none of that mattered.

“Joe!”

There was another silence. It felt as if it lasted for a lifetime, but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.

“Yes?” Joe was out of breath and his voice was muffled.

“Let Andy see her. Let Andy see Quynh.”

“Over my dea-...”

“It’s her dying wish, Yusuf!”

Silence. 

Andy laughed. The first time she had died had not been quiet. It had been loud and obnoxious and it had been a triumph. Even on her death bed, it had been a victory. Even when blood had poured out of her like water from a tap, she had felt on top of the world. Now, all she felt was tired.

When Andy opened her eyes again, Quynh stood in front of her. Booker and Joe held her, but Andy could tell they didn’t have to. Quynh wasn’t struggling anymore. She looked just as tired as Andy felt.

“You deserve this”, Quynh told her, but Andy could hear her voice break. “You deserve a slow death.”

“I know”, Andy replied. “I-... I got you something. At home.”

Andy closed her eyes again. There were still a million things she wanted to say, but she wasn’t sure if she had the time nor the energy. 

“Nicky”, Nile’s voice felt far away, even though Andy could still feel her atop her. “Nicky, an ambulance.”

Nicky disappeared from her side. Andy wanted to laugh again, but she only managed a whiny cough.

“Let me go”, Quynh sounded even further away than Nile. Andy could feel herself slipping and it was something of a relief. Like an opportunity to rest after a long, hard day. “Let me go.”

Andy wasn’t sure what it was that made her open her eyes again, but when she did, Quynh sat next to her. She still looked angry and Andy didn’t blame her. Quynh fingered at something by her neck.

“Oh”, Andy mumbled, as she moved to pull the necklace off. Nile pushed her back down again, clearly not letting her take it off. “It’s… yours.”

“You-... You kept it.”

Andy managed to lift her hand and gently brushed Quynh’s cheek, even though it felt as if her arm weighted more than anything she had ever carried.

“Of course I did”, Andy had to pause to breathe. “I love you.”

Quynh cried, then. Andy wanted to let her know that it didn’t matter, but she couldn’t. Her body didn’t listen to her. She just felt heavy. Heavy and tired.

“I love you”, Andy said again, as she closed her eyes. She’d open them again in a moment, she just had to rest.

“I love you, too”, Quynh’s lips brushed against Andy’s lips. “Rest, Andromache.”

A small smile spread across Andy’s lips. She felt Quynh’s hand brush hers and she felt calm. The last thing she felt before she slipped away, was Quynh's soft lips against her own.

**Author's Note:**

> This MIGHT be turned into something multichap, but PLEASE don't get your hopes up because I never write


End file.
